2011 Election: Yeadon Dems get boost

YEADON -- Energized by an Election Day visit by Barack Obama, Democrats easily dispatched their Republican counterparts to win all three open seats on borough council.

"It's really exhilarating," said Nelva Wright, who was making her first run for elected office and received more votes than any other candidate. "This thing started off with me just listening to people and seeing if I could help change things to make Yeadon a better place to live."

She will be joined on council by fellow Democrats Rosalind Jones-Johnson and Gracie Snead.

"We got clobbered," said the Rev. Rohan Hepkins, who ran on the Republican slate with businessman Moses Kpoyea and longtime borough resident Eileen Perna. "It didn't help that Obama came to Yeadon on Election Day. I think it reminded all the voters of all the things they don't like about Republicans."

President Obama made a late-morning visit to the Regional Head Start Center on Cobbs Creek Parkway.

"It's not every day the president comes to Yeadon," Hepkins said with a laugh. "As a matter of fact, I don't know of any president who has come to Yeadon."

With 89 percent of the vote in, Democrats were winning by better than a 6-to-1 margin at midnight.

Jones-Johnson, who served on council from 2000-2008, said she was looking forward to another four-year term.

"I don't think you're going to see the 4-3 split on council that we've had previously," she said. "I'm confident we will work in the best interest of the community and not be divided in that way."